PlayStation All-Stars Volume Two, Season Two
by Coleiosis
Summary: Ratchet is in deep trouble once his split-personality finally emerges from his mind. Will Ratchet stand up and face this new menace? Or will he face the doorway to death?
1. Play of the War God

PlayStation All-Stars

Volume Two, Season Two

Episode One

Play of the War God

By Cole Bezotte

 **Note from the author: Sorry I took so long to write this. I've been busy with Super Sonic Squad, which is not a popular fanfiction series as well. In fact, NONE of my works have been popular at all! Am I right?**

 **Anyway, on with the show!**

Kratos stood in the middle of Los Angeles' downtown area, attracting whoever stood nearby. A huge crowd gathered around him and begged for something to keep as a memory for meeting the god of war.

"Out of my way!" a man begged as he pushed his way through the large crowd. "Kratos! I want to offer you something very important! I'm gonna give you a movie contract. You'll be a star in the movies! We'll make you famous!"

"You will make me famous?" Kratos asked in reply.

"Think of it, big fella! Your own swimming pool! Beautiful starlets! Fan clubs! TV residuals!"

Convinced by what the movie director said, Kratos had no choice but to accept the offer and go make himself known to the world. "I accept!" he exclaimed. "The world must not be deprived of my great talents!"

And so, as the excited Kratos was en route to Hollywood to star in a motion picture series based upon his exploits, we now turn to Stardust Studios, where feverish preparations were now in progress. Many workers constructed a fancy set for the announced movie that was soon to come. On the other hand, things looked TOO fancy as everything was decorated in Olympian style.

"Boy, this takes the cake!" a carpenter muttered. "They're redesigning the whole blamed studio just on the account of the new Kratos movie."

"Yeah!" another man replied. "They even hired a special producer for the picture for the picture… some nut named Pluto."

"Imagine the new producer designing himself an office like THIS! He must think he's some kind of tin god or something."

"Did you get a look at him yet? The first time I saw him, I thought he was wearing a fright mask."

"Speaking of fright masks… that crazy gizmo you're jockeying into his office must have been left over from last year's Halloween party. I wonder where they dug Pluto up from. I never heard of him working around the studios before."

"The way I heard it, he convinced the boss that he was an expert on the legends of Kratos. He must have given him a real snow job."

"You can say THAT again!"

"SILENCE!" a sudden loud voice exclaimed. A tall man in a black suit came walking into the room. "You have been engaged to work… not to speak disparagingly of your betters! How could you even hope to fathom the truth about one such as I?"

"Sorry, Mr. Pluto," one of the workers replied. "No offense meant… We'll get right to work…"

But, exactly sixty minutes later, Pluto came back and spoke again: "Get out, all of you! You are dismissed! I wish to be alone now! But stand by for further orders! You are not to leave the studio grounds! Now go!"

"Yes sir!" one of the workers replied. "Right away! You don't have to tell us twice!"

Then, once alone in his hauntingly strange, securely locked office, Pluto made a mystic pass with his hand, as the molecules in the air seemed suddenly to rearrange themselves into a fantastic, flaming image…

"Speak, Minion!" Pluto commanded the image of a horrible-looking face. "How goes my Underworld domain in my absence? Do the fires still burn?"

"All is well, master…" Minion replied, "…as it has ever been… as it shall ever be..."

"Nay, Minion… For the first time in ages…there shall be a change. Now heed my words… Eons ago…before the dawn of human memory…I was sentenced to rule the Underworld below. Only by finding a fit replacement can I be free of that odious destiny! But now, at last…I have found such a replacement. Even as I suspect, the unsuspecting Kratos approaches…little dreaming the dread fate that awaits him! Now, begone! I must prepare for what is yet to be!"

Let us turn our attention back to the powerful Kratos touring the specially-built movie set behind the gates of Stardust Studios.

"I marvel at such handiwork!" Kratos said as he looked around with the director. "To think that mere mortals could create a scene which so truly resembles Olympus!"

"Keep it up, baby!" the director replied. "You're beginning to sound just like you really ARE the son of Zeus."

"To think that I—the hero of heroes—shall spend my time in play-acting for the amusement of mortals! What a monumental jest! How the heavens themselves shall rock with laughter!"

"You better play it cool with the top brass. Rub it the wrong way, and they'll turn you in for Steve Reeves."

"I begin to weary of your prattle. What is this that approaches me?"

The director looked ahead of himself and saw a strange creature coming right towards Kratos. "I don't know," he said. "I never saw it before!"

The creature was pink-skinned, wearing emerald-green chainmail armor and a blue breastplate. "This is your screen test, Kratos!" said Pluto's voice from the distance. "Defend yourself! Your opponent is merely a mechanical device, created by our studio technicians, to see how you photograph in a fight scene."

The robot began to attack Kratos, swinging its mechanical arms rapidly. Kratos was more than eager to strike back, giving the robot many hard blows with his powerful fists. "You shall get more than you bargained for!" he exclaimed as he completely destroyed the mechanical being.

Pluto stepped forward and congratulated Kratos on his visit. "Your robot foe was too expensive for us to allow you to damage it," he said. "You are all I have heard you are. The role is yours! I shall make you the greatest star of all time! Your name will become a household word!"

"Know you not that my name has been hailed for ages throughout the known universe?" Kratos replied.

"I like your style, my boy! Now come, I have prepared a lavish Olympian feast for you!" Pluto led Kratos into a dining room. In that room, many people placed many platters of food on a long table.

"This is truly a repast to gladden the heart of man or immortal!" Kratos said excitedly.

"I trust you are amused by the entertainment I have provided for you, Kratos," Pluto continued. "This is a minor tableau from one of the Amazonian battle scenes which our epic shall feature. And before we forget—if you will just sign this contract—a mere formality of course—an annoying trifle to be quickly disposed of."

"But, what nonsense is this?" Kratos replied as he sipped a cup of mead. "The text says that I must rule the Underworld—for all eternity!"

"Oh, did I not tell you? It is merely the theme of our picture. Surely the powerful Kratos is not afraid to sign? According to the plot of the movie, you conquer the entire Underworld by defeating me in battle."

"That thought pleases me greatly. Enough talk, then! Herewith, the thumbprint of Kratos! The pact is sealed!" With that, Kratos placed his thumbprint upon the contract paper and signed.

Suddenly, Pluto picked up the contract and shook it in excitement. "I've won!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "After all these ages—you signed it willingly! An Olympian contract—which can never be cancelled! I'm free—at last, I'm free!"

"Your voice!" Kratos said, surprised. "Your demeanor—they have changed!"

"Here!" Pluto replied, taking off his glasses. "Look, Kratos—look into my eyes! Look deep—DEEP—and tell me what you behold!"

"YOU!" Kratos exclaimed. "It can be no other! It is James Ash—lord of the Underworld!"

"You are undone, Kratos—doomed to rule the accursed Underworld—forever!"

"Not I! Not the son of Zeus!"

"You have no choice, Kratos! You have signed the Olympian contract!"

Kratos knew that he had to escape from this terrible moment. He quickly used his Blades of Chaos to fight his way to escape; he tore through many Underworld creatures, killing many at a time. He may have escaped, but is he safe?

 **WHAT A FIX KRATOS IS IN! HOW CAN HE ESCAPE THE PERIL THAT MR. ASH PUT HIM INTO? IF HE CANNOT HELP HIMSELF, WHO WILL SAVE HIM? WE SHALL SEE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! UNTIL THEN, SEE YOU SOON!**


	2. Underworld is Underway

PlayStation All-Stars

Volume Two, Season Two

Episode Two

Underworld is Underway

By Cole Bezotte

 **Last time, Mr. Ash tricked Kratos into signing a contract to make him forever ruler of the Underworld. Will Kratos ever escape the peril? Is he doomed?**

No matter how sophisticated Los Angeles downtowners may be, when the noble figure of Ratchet walks the streets, you can be somewhat certain he will receive more than a passing glance. "There he is!" one man exclaimed as he pointed at him. "If only I had my camera!"

Once over their initial feeling of awe and astonishment, the passerby soon mustered up enough nerve to crowd around the Lombax, plying him with endless queries.

"There's been a lot of talk about you running into Kratos on the coast, Ratchet," a pedestrian spoke up.

"What happened to Kratos?" said another. "Where is he now?"

As Ratchet attempted to break his way from the crowd, he thought deeply about the situation: "It is best that they do not learn that Mr. Ash has tricked the proud god into replacing him as ruler of the Underworld—forever."

"Why did you return here?" another man asked. "Is there trouble brewing?"

"Hey!" a crazed fan shouted. "Let's see you do some tricks with that jazzy wrench of yours, huh? Come on, show us what you can do!"

"Please stay back!" Ratchet begged the crowd. "You're really wearing me out!"

"Who does he think he is?" someone else said. "We've got a right to say what we want!"

"Wait, Ratchet!" a woman spoke. "I want your autograph for my kids!"

"Quick!" the crazed fan shouted. "Tear off some hairs of his fur—for a memento!"

Ratchet kept on running until he found the nearest taxi cab to escape in. "You've GOT to take me far away from here!" he begged the driver.

"Where to, pal?" the driver asked as he drove away with Ratchet. "You name it—I'll get you there."

"Take me to the Midtown Suburbs," Ratchet answered in reply.

"Sure. I know the place. Sit back and relax, curly. I'll have you there in no time. You've got to excuse those rubber-necks, mister. They don't realize that you Lombaxes can get sick of crowds just like any ordinary John Doe. The way I see it, you aren't much different than a guy like me. You wield a nutty wrench and carry a robot on your back, while I drive me a hack and wear a button in my cap. But I'll bet you worry about dames, and politics, just like me and everyone else."

"You are quite a philosopher, my friend," Ratchet exaggerated in reply.

"Sure," the cab driver continued. "But, I've been around too. I caught myself a bullet at Anzio, in the Vietnam War."

"Then you too have done your share for freedom."

"Yeah, just like you. I read plenty about you, pal. In spite of those big ears, you're an A-1 John Doe in my book."

Ratchet finally arrived at his destination: the mansion of the League of Heroes. He stepped out of the cab and thanked the driver for the assistance, then walked inside.

As the driver watched Ratchet go inside the house, he thought deeply: "He's a real swinger, that guy. He and I are buddies. He takes my hack whenever his wrench is on the blink. But he's not an ordinary fare. He clean forgot about paying me."

But that was a long while earlier. Let us return to the present and see what was happening.

Kratos was in great peril as Mr. Ash's legions seized him and began to drag him down to the Underworld below. "Prepare yourself, Kratos!" Ash exclaimed as Kratos came closer to his doom. "You have signed the Olympian contract—now you must pay the price! After all these ages, I am freed at last—while you shall serve in my place—till time itself vanishes!"

Kratos wished that he could take on all who opposed him, but it was hopeless. "Your strength is useless now!" Ash continued. "Since signing the parchment, you are forbidden to strike a single blow! Only another may do battle on your behalf. But, none would be so foolhardy! Prepare yourself then—to yield!"

"No!" Kratos thought. "Somewhere—somewhere in the vast, limitless universe there must be one—one who will heed my call-!"

Once Kratos fully entered the Underworld, Mr. Ash laughed triumphantly. "It is your own accursed power which has proven to be your undoing!"

"Not so fast!" a sudden voice exclaimed. "There is one who will fight for the god of war!"

"Impossible!" Mr. Ash thought. "There is NONE who would dare-!"

"Bring out all your best warriors!" Ratchet said as he stepped forward. "I shall save Kratos!"

"Consider well, Lombax!" Mr. Ash replied. "If you should find defeat at the hands of my subjects, then you must take Kratos' place as ruler of the dreaded Underworld—for all eternity! The son of Zeus is already trapped within the Underworld, and now I shall send you to join him! Though he is forbidden to do battle for his freedom, you must fight every inch of the way. Never has a cause been more hopeless.

"And now—away with you! The entrance to my realm lies there—at your feet. One step further, and you shall enter the portals of blazing energy—to never return!"

"I shall enter…" Ratchet replied. "And I shall RETURN!"

"Remember, son of Kaden—whatever fate befalls you—you have brought it upon your own head! Let that be the last thought you shall carry with you—into abysmal defeat!"

Ratchet stepped down into the portal which led to the Underworld. Slowly, savagely, the unseen elements of infinity altered their endless pattern—and then, without warning—the mists cleared—and Ratchet beheld the dreaded realm.

"It is here I shall give Kratos his freedom…" Ratchet thought as he walked through the path, "…or lose my own—until the end of time. There's no turning back now…"

Meanwhile, Kratos was helplessly taken by the savage creatures to where he was to be crowned. "I'll never remain captive here!" Kratos exclaimed. "I will fight my way to freedom, as I have ever done throughout the ages!"

"Not so this time, son of Zeus!" the creature Minion replied as he held his captive by the arms. "By signing the Olympian contract, your own strength has been all but sapped away!"

Another creature, known as Black, came forward with the dreaded crown that was to be placed upon Kratos' head. "Cease your struggles, Kratos!" he demanded. "Once this crown is upon your head, this world becomes your domain—and PRISON as well—until time itself shall exist no more!"

"NO!" Kratos screamed. "I am a warrior born! If I must know defeat, let it be in battle! Let it be at the hands of a more powerful foe! But not THIS! By the towering spires of Olympus—not THIS! I cannot rule the dregs of the universe!"

But then, a booming command thundered through the great chamber as Ratchet finally appeared. "Stay away from him!" Ratchet shouted. "I now strike on his behalf!"

"Ratchet!" Kratos exclaimed excitedly. "Then, there IS one willing to risk all for me!" But, before the powerful god could advance a step, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks by the enchantment of the pact he had signed. Powerful bolts of energy engulfed him completely, shocking him with tremendous pain.

"Desist, Kratos!" Black demanded. "It is forbidden that you lift your hand in battle! Only another may do so for you!"

"Ratchet…" Kratos said. "Though I have power to shake the universe—it is you who must strike in my behalf! I pray that you are strong and true!"

Many creatures gathered around and formed in a huge band to attack Ratchet. Ratchet was not helpless himself; he used his Omniwrench to attack and defend like he had done throughout his life. Even now, he was still strong enough to strike with it again, toppling whatever enemy that threatened him. But threats did not stop him; he continued to fight like the hero he truly was.

The more Ratchet fought, the more the creatures of the Underworld feared him. Many of them scattered about, trying to find other ways to fight him. Eventually, Minion drove his tank towards him and fired his secret weapon. "No one can withstand a cosmic cannon shell!" Minion thought as he opened fire. "It is specially designed to enfold someone in a cosmic sleep for a century! The battle is ours!"

But, before the fatal blast could strike its target, Ratchet swiftly used his wrench to gather many stray creatures and used them as shields against the deadly cannon. The shell ended up striking its own wielders, putting them to heavy sleep.

"Now to strike back!" Ratchet thought as he threw his powerful wrench at the tank, blowing it up into many pieces. The wrench hit the main fuel system which powered the vehicle, causing a powerful explosion.

Suddenly, the floor beneath Ratchet opened, and he fell downwards. He landed into a glass-like cage with what seemed like no way out at all.

"Prepare to be rendered helpless, doomed one!" Black shouted at him. "For you are finally trapped—within a shatterproof turbulence chamber! We shall feed you artificial wind pressure designed to slay anything that lives!"

Ratchet felt the heavy winds blow up from the powerful vents below him. The very strong force lifted him up to the top of the cage, trapping him there until the turbulence would end and leave him lifeless.

"I must escape and free Kratos!" he thought as he struggled to use his wrench and break his way out. "I must…overcome gravity!"

Ratchet pushed his wrench so hard against the cage, pressing with extreme force. Eventually the cage broke, and he managed to free himself. The wind was still blowing; its powerful force blew all surrounding creatures everywhere. They could not even try to stand up on their feet.

"ENOUGH!" boomed a voice. "Let the combat cease!" Mr. Ash came forward to chew Ratchet out. "Within a matter of minutes, you have torn down what it has taken me ages to create! I can witness no further destruction to the realm I have ruled since the dawn of time! My subjects would fight to the end of I wish it—but your power is too great! It would avail me NOTHING!"

"Your place is here, Ash," Ratchet replied. "You would NEVER find contentment in the world above anyway."

"You are right. I know that now. I shall free the god of his fate!"

Kratos stepped forward and said: "Then, Ratchet has triumphed?!"

"Yes," Mr. Ash replied. "The ordeal is ended! I shall remain lord of the Underworld!" With that, he tore the contract into many shreds.

"I am FREE!" Kratos exclaimed in triumph. "FREE! Already, my strength is returning to me! Kratos is the god of war once more! But what of HIM?" He turned to point towards Mr. Ash. "Is the evil Ash not to feel the terrible vengeance of Kratos?"

"Have a care, son of Zeus," Mr. Ash replied. "In the Underworld, it is my power which is supreme."

 **WHAT A STORY! BUT WAIT A MINUTE! ARE WE FORGETTING SOMETHING? OF COURSE WE ARE! RATCHET STILL HAS THAT VOICE IN HIS HEAD THAT HE CAN NEVER GET RID OF! WE SHALL SEE MORE OF THAT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! UNTIL THEN, SEE YOU SOON!**

 **If you would like to see what's new on YouTube, go to my channel! I am known as Coleiosis Delose.**


	3. Ratchet Versus the Human Race

PlayStation All-Stars

Volume Two, Season Two

Episode Three

Ratchet Versus the Human Race

By Cole Bezotte

 **Note from the author: Now we REALLY get to see what's been going on in Ratchet's head lately. Enjoy!**

At the mansion of the League of Heroes, Ratchet sat by himself on the couch, thinking over the adventure he and Kratos had down in the Underworld. Although the mission was a complete success, he still felt very uneasy about himself. He still remembered that mysterious voice that whispered inside his head from when he battled the thug known as Arboc Thatcher.

"I should be in jail for this!" Ratchet thought deeply. "I let someone fall to his death! I let my emotions cloud my judgment! I could have saved him when I had the chance!"

"Why you little yellow idiot…" a sudden voice hissed inside his head. "He got what he deserved! I told you to let him die!"

Ratchet became scared about who was speaking to his mind. "Whoever you are…" he said in panic, "…whatever you want from me…please go away! I don't want you here!"

"Your own arrogance and overconfidence brought me here!" the voice replied. "You are nothing but a lowly, pitiful piece of crap! You've done so many mistakes, and yet you dare not apologize for what you did! I'd rather you do your deeds openly and show your friends who you REALLY are!"

"Stop it!" Ratchet begged. "I don't want you…!" But suddenly, he felt himself reach for his Omniwrench and blindly walk outside. "What are you doing with me?!" he thought. His mind was trapped by the voice that overtook him. The new split-personality he had gained had taken complete control over him.

Meanwhile, Pupuru and Kat walked throughout the suburbs, sharing many secrets that soon came to haunt them.

"I honestly have no idea where my parents are," Pupuru confessed as they went deeper into the topic. "I don't think I've ever MET them before!"

"As for me…" Kat replied, "…I can't remember a darn thing. All I remember was a heartbeat, and two eyes opening awake. I couldn't remember anything about my past, and I still can't figure it all out even today."

"Well, Kat, I really do promise that we'll help you find the evidence of your past. That's a promise I'm more than willing to keep."

"Thank you so much, Pupuru. I really appreciate it. Look! What's Ratchet doing over there?"

Pupuru looked ahead and saw Ratchet walking towards them with his wrench. "I guess he's summoning us for a battle," she said as she went forward. "Who are we going against this time? Mr. Grimm? Apocalypse 9? Or Bloody Mary?"

"Neither," Ratchet replied monotonously. "You are to be my first victim…"

"Wait! What?!"

"Don't worry… I'll make short work of you, you'll wish you've never been born!"

Kat knew right away what was going on; she quickly used her gravitational powers to knock the wrench out of Ratchet's hand. But that only made things worse; Ratchet then had the opportunity to reach out and grab Pupuru by her throat. Pupuru struggled to free herself from his grip, but he kept on squeezing her tighter and tighter.

Eventually, Kat had to jump right in and used her power to pry Ratchet away. "Come on!" she pleaded Pupuru as she quickly took her by the hand and ran for cover.

"What's wrong with Ratchet?" Pupuru said, desperately and inquisitively. "Why is he not acting like himself?"

"Something evil has taken over his mind," Kat answered in reply. "He can't control it at all!"

"Can't you use your powers to knock that creature out of his mind?"

"I can't! His powers are far greater than mine! Even if I was to try, he would come and kill me as well! I don't want your promise to be broken too soon!"

"And I'll never let it be broken! If we are to find out what's going on with Ratchet, we'll do it together!"

"Stay here while I go attack him physically."

"But don't hurt Ratchet! I know there is still good in him!"

Kat rushed out to attack at Ratchet, charging straight towards him at full speed. Ratchet had already regained his wrench, which he was to use as his weapon for now. Kat attempted to give Ratchet a very strong blow across the head; she made him stagger back, but that only made things worse.

"You don't know a crap about me!" Ratchet hissed at Kat. "With this power, I may absorb anything I touch! Thanks to your blow, I have absorbed your gravitational power! Now I may use it for MY purposes!" With that, Ratchet used that power to lift Kat off the ground and choke her very hard.

Air began to abandon Kat's lungs as she struggled to free herself. Ratchet tossed her aside and started heading for Pupuru.

Pupuru thought that she had no place to hide at first. Then she saw that the ferris wheel at the top of one of the hills was empty, so she went over to it and hid herself in one of the seats. Kat saw what Pupuru was doing, so she helped by using her power to spin the wheel and lift Pupuru's seat up very high into the sky.

"I hope I'm safe up here!" Pupuru thought as she crouched out of view. "I must have time to think! I must try to figure out how to relieve Ratchet of this monster!"

It was not until many hours later that Pupuru finally woke back up and noticed that it was night time. Dark clouds loomed over the suburbs as it began to rain. Suddenly, Pupuru felt that her seat was being lowered back down to ground level as the ferris wheel again spun. Kat brought her down and helped her escape.

"What took you so long?" Pupuru asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"Ratchet didn't leave until he was sure that you had escaped," Kat answered in reply. "I myself had to wait until he finally left the suburbs; I didn't want you to stay up there forever."

"Why didn't you warn the others about Ratchet?"

"It's best that they never find out. I want us to help Ratchet instead of cause grief and panic on the others. Like you said, if we're going to help Ratchet out of his situation, we'll do it together."

"You're right. I must find out what has happened to our dearest friend!"

 **LOOKS LIKE WE'RE IN FOR A REAL TREAT! NEXT TIME, ONE OF THE BEST BATTLES EVER! UNTIL THEN, SEE YOU SOON!**


	4. Darkest Part

PlayStation All-Stars

Volume Two, Season Two

Episode Four

Darkest Part

By Cole Bezotte and Elias Sheumaker

 **Note from the authors: The song "Darkest Part" by Red deeply inspired us for this gigantic adventure and conflict. We planned this for months; now we can finally put this into action! Enjoy!**

Marcus Kane ran through heavy fields on a dark and stormy night. Beside him stood his split-personality Needles, also known as Sweet Tooth. Their unity seemed to have caused a short-circuit in Marcus' brain as he began to go slightly insane.

"Where am I?" Marcus spoke up.

"How did I get back here?" Needles replied as he looked around. "This looks like…"

"This looks like a nightmare. I've seen this monster before…"

"…In my own reflection." Needles and Marcus stood beside each other as they looked up to see a tall tower with an evil-looking clown head atop it. This was to be their next ultimate weapon of destruction: Tower Tooth.

"Who are you?" Marcus said as he turned to face Needles.

"Oh, come on!" Needles replied. "Don't be naïve!"

"Don't you drive, Sweet Tooth!"

"I'm…a little bit more than that. I'm YOU, you moron!"

"I don't know why, but I believe you."

"Hey! Have I ever lied to me?"

"What is this? Is this a dream? It feels like I've been here before."

"I HAVE. Well… WE have. WHATEVER!"

"What is this place?" Marcus continued as he turned back to face Tower Tooth. "Why are we here? What is that thing?"

"Too many questions…" Needles replied. "I think the best thing to do is climb inside and look around."

 **(Now that we are done with the dramatic flashbacks, let's go back to our story.)**

Kat led Pupuru back to the mansion of the League of Heroes; it was still heavily storming that night, with lightning constantly flashing. Thunder roared after every five seconds as the heavy rain pelted upon Kat and Pupuru.

Once they arrived at the front porch, they suddenly saw a man come out from around the corner. "Marcus!" Pupuru spoke up as she approached him. "You've experienced the same thing before, have you?"

"Of course," Marcus replied. "All this…could be my fault…"

"It isn't. No one can blame you for anything. Ratchet formed that split-personality himself."

"I know he did, but there's nothing I can really do to control it."

Kat came in: "But isn't there someone who knows everything about twisting minds? Surely Needles is an expert at making someone cause conflict with himself."

"If there's anyone who will stop him…" Marcus replied, "…it's me. I created that monster, and I shall go and take him down…FOREVER!"

"But what about Ratchet?" Pupuru continued. "We can't leave him a victim of himself."

"You're one of his best friends," Marcus replied to her. "You must go and help him."

"I will… But I'm afraid…"

"Don't be afraid; the real Ratchet is depending on you…"

Back at the center of the suburbs, Marcus paced back and forth, waiting for his opponent to arrive and accept his challenge. After waiting for about five minutes, he thought Needles had decline the offer. But Needles soon came, driving the one thing that was seen in Pupuru's nightmare: Tower Tooth.

"I have come as you requested!" Needles spoke up as he stepped out of the giant vehicle. "It took me forever to escape the asylum and follow you here."

Marcus was very eager to defeat the one enemy he used to fear. Now was his big chance to do what he had promised. He charged forward with a ready fist, firing it at his sworn enemy. But Needles saw this coming; he stepped out of the way and pushed Marcus down to the ground.

"You big baby!" Needles said. "If that's the only way you think you can stop me, it's completely hopeless! You're putty!"

"Call me what you will…" Marcus replied as he quickly got back up to his feet, "…but I won't give up! I will stop at nothing to make you finally DEAD!"

Needles began to attack back with his fists as well. Both identities of Marcus Kane, the true one and the evil one, pushed punches against each other, struggling to gain the upper hand because of their almost equal strength.

Meanwhile, Kat guided Pupuru to where Ratchet might have been hiding. Her hunch was absolutely correct; she soon found Ratchet, in his full rage, charging right at Pupuru. She had to act quickly; she used her gravitational powers to push him away before he could lay his Omniwrench upon her.

Ratchet's demonic anger controlled him to get back up and attempt to attack again. Kat was about to defend Pupuru again, but Pupuru objected and pleaded her to stop. "Don't do it again!" she begged. "Let me go to him!"

"Why?" Kat replied. "You'll get killed!"

"Let me reason with him! Just keep him still and let me get to him!" As fast as she could, Pupuru ran towards Ratchet and stopped him in his tracks right before he was about to throw his wrench a second time.

"Ratchet!" Pupuru exclaimed. "Please stop this madness! This is not you! I know there is still good in you and I want to see it! PLEASE, Ratchet! I love you!" Pupuru broke down into tears as she heavily embraced Ratchet.

Ratchet was not moved at all; only the good side of him understood what Pupuru said. But because his split-personality had taken over his body, there was nothing he could do but cry out inside. Pupuru's tears fell to the ground right at Ratchet's feet.

But suddenly, Pupuru began to hear a strange sizzling sound from below. She looked down and saw that her fallen tears were boiling and sizzling hard, causing smoke to rise up. Such energy from the split-personality was using the tears to create a new life form.

At that same time, Marcus and Needles were still battling each other to the death. Each fighter was desperate to get rid of the other once and for all. But the more Marcus tried, the more tired he became. His exhaustion weakened him so much that he stopped pushing his punches; he bent, almost falling clean onto the pavement. But before he knew it, Needles stuck at his head and knocked him out unconscious. But it was not over; Needles thought he had successfully killed Marcus.

Back at the other end of town, Kat watched as a white light suddenly begin to emit around Ratchet and Pupuru. They soon became completely engulfed in it, and were wiped away from the face of the earth. "What happened to them?" Kat thought desperately. "Are they gone forever?"

Little did Kat know that Ratchet and Pupuru were transported to Marcus' mind. But each subject stood a long distance from each other in a large, blank, white scene. Pupuru still faced the evil Ratchet, but the good Ratchet finally appeared, standing in front of an evil Pupuru. Each good version stood too far away from each other, being forced to stare at the red-tinted evil versions of their friends.

"Ratchet…" Pupuru whimpered, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "Is this how you are going to live from now on? All my life, you have NEVER given up on me! But now, you finally have for the first time! I thought that we would be friends forever! Instead, I have the world's most wonderful Lombax as my enemy! I don't want you to be like this!"

Ratchet spoke to the evil Pupuru, thinking that she was the real person: "I have failed you, Pupuru! I have failed you! When I first found out about you, I was more than willing to take you as a great friend! But now, it seems the tables have turned for me! What happened to the girl that I once knew?! What has happened to her?! Am I to remain a madman forever?!"

Suddenly, the evil versions began to look very sad and pitiful. They came forward and embraced their opposite selves heavily, seeming to beg for forgiveness.

"THERE'S the Ratchet that I know," Pupuru said as he hugged the evil Ratchet. "Maybe this IS not all your fault. I know Needles can create evil beings; so if we're going to stop him, we'll stop him together."

"I never wanted to hurt you," Ratchet said to the evil Pupuru. "All this time, you were like my daughter. I'll never forget the many times you've rescued me in desperate situations. You really are a great help, and I'll never forget that."

They continued to hug each other, that is until the most surprising moment.

 **(Note from the authors: ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?)**

The evil versions suddenly drew out daggers and stabbed their victims in the back. They only pretended to be sad to create a distraction; the real Ratchet and Pupuru were not prepared for this. Blood began to ooze from their bodies as they stumbled and fell to the ground. The evil versions escaped out of Marcus' head, leaving their victims alone in that blank scene.

Ratchet lied on the ground as he turned his head to look ahead of himself. He saw the real Pupuru lying there helpless and on the verge of death. With every bit of remaining strength within him, Ratchet crawled over to Pupuru and held onto her very tightly. Pupuru felt Ratchet's soft touch and struggled to open her eyes to see the face she would always remember.

"Ratchet…" Pupuru whispered weakly. "This…cannot be the end… I don't want it to be…"

"I never wanted this to be the end either, Pupuru…" Ratchet replied. "I'm sorry I never told you, Pupuru…"

"What did you not…tell me…?"

"There are many things…in this world that…we cannot handle…ourselves. There will always be…an obstacle that we need to overcome. Death now seems to be…our final obstacle. If we are to die…we will die together…"

"Why does it have to end this way…?" Pupuru whimpered, her tears mixing with her blood. "I never got to say goodbye…to all my friends…"

"But they will still fight for us. They will always…remember us…"

The loyal hearts of the two heroes began to slow down and fail. Two brave friends lied on the floor next to each other, nearing ever so closer to death… closer… closer…

Marcus finally woke up from his blow, slowly opening his eyes to see Needles standing with the evil versions of Ratchet and Pupuru. He had seen what had happened to the real Ratchet and Pupuru, which made him very infuriated. He quickly got back up to his feet and ran over to lash out at his sworn enemy.

Needles did not expect to feel such awesome wrath from the man who created him. The blow was so powerful that it knocked him down to the ground. The evil Pupuru turned and was ready to attack, but Marcus quickly grabbed her by the wrist and squeezed very hard to break her hand. He did the same thing to the other hand, breaking that one as well.

The evil Ratchet attempted to run and flee in secret, but he was soon caught by Kat. She used her scarf to hold him by the throat; the more she tugged, the more it choked him. He decided to no longer fight it and to let her win so she would not strangle him anymore.

Needles got up and quickly ran back to Tower Tooth. He hopped inside and sped away from the suburbs, declaring the battle as only the next step to his secret plan.

Marcus still had the power to bring the real Ratchet and Pupuru back to the real world; they were not stuck there forever. Once Marcus brought them out into the open, they would be saved from the death that came so close to them.

Ratchet and Pupuru began to fully materialize in front of Marcus and Kat, breathing normally. Their hearts pumped their blood, giving them the will to live. Ratchet got back up to his feet, able to stand again and fight. But Pupuru was still weak; she could hardly move and speak after so much tension.

"We won't let Needles get away this time!" Ratchet declared. "Marcus, you and I are going after him. Kat, you in the meantime will take Pupuru back to the mansion. Make sure she is healed fully before she gets involved in any battle whatsoever."

"But what about you, Ratchet?" Marcus replied. "You don't look good yourself."

"I'll be fine; it's just a flesh wound."

"MORE than that! You were stabbed full in the back!"

"I'm sure I can fight again. But if you still disagree, I'll go see Dr. Nefarious and get myself together again."

"You'll have to strategize everything," Kat said as she held the unconscious Pupuru in her hands. "I hear that Needles is issuing you to a contest."

"I should have known!" Marcus replied. "Needles is bringing back up the Twisted Metal contest! If he wants a battle, we'll give him one!"

"Then let's not waste a minute!" Ratchet continued. "Let's get going!"

 **WHAT A MASTERPIECE THIS IS! NOW WE'VE GOT A TWISTED METAL CONTEST TO LOOK FORWARD TO, WHERE THE DRIVERS ARE INSANE, THE EXPLOSIONS APOCALYPTIC, AND THE WEAPONS HARDCORE! NASTY! BUT WE PROMISE YOU, THIS WILL BE THE BEST TWISTED METAL BATTLE EVER! UNTIL THEN, SEE YOU SOON!**

 **We'd like to thank Red for inspiring us to write this awesome story! Also, thanks to Lee Bezotte for the support!**


	5. Urban Assault

PlayStation All-Stars

Volume Two, Season Two

Episode Five

Urban Assault

By Cole Bezotte

 **Note from the author: I just want to go right ahead and thank David Jaffe and Scott Campbell for car combat in the first place!**

Working hastily through the night, Marcus dug through the Zorko Bros. Scrap and Salvage junkyard to find many useful things for his vehicle known as Roadkill. He was preparing himself for the Twisted Metal contest that was soon to come.

In the meanwhile, Ratchet was under the care of Dr. Nefarious and his butler Lawrence, being healed of his heavy wounds so he could fight in this contest. It had to take a while for him to be fully energized to fight; his car Spectre was waiting for him to drive.

Pupuru could not fight; she was still heavily injured and could hardly move. She also could barely speak, so she knew that if she wanted to apologize to Ratchet, she would have to wait a while until she got the chance.

In the bedroom of the "small guys", we find Sackboy trying so hard to sleep. But no matter how hard he tried, he kept on tossing and turning due to the noise Marcus made in the garage. He constantly heard wrenches turning and weapons being recharged; he could not stand to hear the noise.

At that same time, Needles had parked Tower Tooth at the other end of the junkyard. He hid there after the battle from our previous episode and waited until his opponents were ready for his contest. But before fully moving into action, Needles slept to regain his strength for the battle. It was a hard fight he struck up with Marcus that night, and he eventually could not stand the pain of his wounds anymore.

Finally, once dawn had come, Ratchet was fully healed and ready to get in on the action. He and Marcus met after breakfast, planning about the strategies that they hoped would work in the battle. Needles was about to come and attack as well, but he saved himself for last. He planned to send out some assassins to defend Tower Tooth before he came out into the open.

Here was the final plan:

Vehicle: Spectre; Driver: Ratchet; Special Weapon: Ghost Missiles

Vehicle: Roadkill; Driver: Marcus Kane; Special Weapon: Boomerang Blast

Vehicle: Mr. Slam; Driver: Melvin (Needles' assistant); Special Weapon: Bulldozer Slam

Vehicle: 12-Pak; Driver: John Doe (the present leader of the Doomsday Cult); Special Weapon: Reticule Missiles

Vehicle: Axel; Driver: Kratos; Special Weapon: Supernova Shockwave

Vehicle: Minion; Driver: Black; Special Weapon: Flame Spread

Everyone was ready for the action. Let the game begin!

The battle began at the Zorko Bros. Scrap and Salvage junkyard, which had enough room for all the vehicles to fight. This was no free-for-all battle; three heroes were on a team against three villains. This was a perfect opportunity for Melvin to use his bulldozer to pick up many scraps of metal and throw them at an enemy. He attempted to do so at Kratos because he was out in the open.

But when Melvin threw the metal, Kratos quickly used his Supernova Shockwave to blast all the scraps away and throw them back at the former. Melvin's vehicle went out of control and was blasted away from the big wave. It was completely destroyed and useless now.

The next stop was the Millennium Drive-In Movie, a very small area where cataclysmic explosions were bound to erupt due to the weapons selected.

Ratchet had the brightest idea; he began to drive all around the area in a large circle and let John Doe chase him down. John was easily fooled, so he followed him and activated his weapon. The target on his computer screen opened, and the countdown for his missiles began. The more he held the trigger, the more missiles were charged. Finally, once the countdown reached zero, John ready to release the trigger.

But before John could do anything, Ratchet did the final phase to his plan. He turned his Ghost Missile turret around and fired behind him. The missile swiftly shot and hit John's vehicle, exploding it to bits.

The final destination was a group of abandoned skyscrapers, the largest battleground that was settled.

Black drove fiercely and at top speed to throw his opponents a curve and confuse them. Once he reached a stop, he noticed that Ratchet had lost his way and merely sat in the middle of one of the rooftops. Right above him was a wrecking ball that was once used to wreck these buildings. This gave Black the opportunity to shoot at it and make it fall on top of Ratchet.

Black fired a missile at the wrecking ball, hoping that it would fall on his opponent. But before he knew it, Marcus' boomerang came flying through the air and deflected the missile back to where it came from. The latter ended the battle and caused Black's vehicle to explode due to the deflected missile.

Now that the enemies were defeated, it was time for Ratchet, Marcus, and Kratos to go settle the score with Needles and Tower Tooth.

They went back down to the city streets below, where they saw Tower Tooth slowly approach them. The evil clown head on top of the strange tower-vehicle laughed as its head raged with fire. Needles was more than ever willing to destroy his sworn enemies once and for all.

His first move of attack was firing his all-powerful Napalm Cones; they burned with fire that could scorch through anything. The three heroes had to dodge their way out of the bouncing Napalm Cones until they eventually ran out of power to hurl themselves.

Now, Tower Tooth made its second move, shooting red bolts of lightning from its head. This impact made Ratchet's heart beat faster due to the excitement and the pressure. He tried desperately to attack back, but he could not find a safe spot to think.

"This just proves…" Needles spoke, "…that you can never, ever, EVER destroy me! NEVER!"

"That actually comes from ME!" said a voice that suddenly boomed. Everyone looked up to see Tower Tooth's head blast off of its top and roll down the streets. Then, as if the entire world itself was coming to an end, the giant head of the Polygon Man descended down to take his place upon Tower Tooth. "If there is revenge to be fulfilled…" the Polygon Man continued, "…make sure I am involved!"

"I thought you were a coward!" Needles replied to him. "You frickin' idiot!"

"We both know that I have power far greater than you do, Needles! With my power, I shall conquer this planet for real and fulfill my plan to create POLYGON PLANET!"

But suddenly, before the Polygon Man could make a move, he and Needles were suddenly met by many other vehicles armed with powerful weapons. The rest of the League of Heroes had taken vehicles for themselves and armed them with weapons blasting with power. Fire missiles, homing missiles, power missiles, ricochet bombs, gas cans, remote bombs, etc. (YOU NAME IT!)

The Polygon Man struggled to fight back with all his power, even with his powers paired up with Tower Tooth's various assortments of weapons. But the more he tried, the more he was struck by the many weapons that were hurled at him. He eventually gave up and retreated, but not without taking Tower Tooth with him.

"HEY!" Needles shouted as the Polygon Man left him alone down below. "You get back here, you cowardly bastard!"

Ratchet and the others arrested Needles and brought him back to the Blackfield Asylum, where he remained until his next plan was to be formed.

 **In case you are wondering who drove what, let me list them for you:**

 **-Vehicle: Yellow Jacket; Driver: Solid Snake; Special Weapon: Spikes**

 **-Vehicle: Outlaw; Driver: Carl Roberts; Special Weapon: Omnitaser**

 **-Vehicle: Thumper; Driver: Raiden; Special Weapon: Balls of Fire**

 **-Vehicle: Crimson Fury; Driver: Agent Shepherd; Special Weapon: Crimson Pulse Blast**

 **-Vehicle: Pit Viper; Driver: Sasha Phyronix; Special Weapon: Green Goo**

 **-Vehicle: Warthog; Driver: Commander Mason; Special Weapon: Patriot Missiles**

 **-Vehicle: Hammerhead; Drivers: Nathan Drake and Sly Cooper; Special Weapon; Rolling Crush**

 **-Vehicle: Shadow; Driver: Raven (the shifter); Special Weapon: Soul Shadow**

 **-Vehicle: Grasshopper; Driver: Angela Cross; Special Weapon: Body Slam**

 **-Vehicle: Micro Blast; Driver: Sackboy; Special Weapon: CatLingers**

 **-Vehicle: Auger; Driver: Captain Qwark; Special Weapon: Drill**

 **-Vehicle: Vermin; Driver: Spike; Special Weapon: Monkey Nets**

 **THAT'S IT! GO AND SIN NO MORE! SEE YOU NEXT TIME!**


	6. May Freedom Reign

PlayStation All-Stars

Volume Two, Season Two

Episode Six

May Freedom Reign

(Or… Mission for Revenge)

By Cole Bezotte

Introduction

Wow! It's been two years since I wrote my first published fanfiction story. The beginning of the cancelled PlayStation All-Stars was a masterpiece… until it was removed, that is. I wanted to make a second anniversary special to really pump up the feelings of those eager readers. You may have already noticed that the two names of this chapter are the names of the very first story! "Mission for Revenge" soon changed to "May Freedom Reign", but I'm using BOTH these names in honor of the original project. But most importantly, both these names involve the main plot.

So, you're probably asking: "What is Ratchet gonna do in this story?"

You better brace yourselves! This is going to be one heck of an emotional story, as well as it reminding you of Doctor Who.

Enjoy!

May Freedom Reign!

After knocking out all the guards of the new Sweet Tooth Asylum, Kat went farther on in her journey to free her friends. Ratchet and Pupuru were kept at the laboratory of Dr. Zemu, held as new patients soon to be placed in two cells Needles specifically saved for them.

It was a very unpleasant experience for Kat to walk through the halls of the asylum, listening to the screams that came from all directions. She tried to cover her ears and drown it out, but she could still almost hear everything around her. These prisoners were taken senselessly by Needles, taken to Dr. Zemu's laboratory to be given brain damage, and placed in these cold and damp prison cells.

Ratchet and Pupuru were already at the laboratory section of the asylum, and they were next to be given their brain damage; their minds were about to go completely berserk. Kat had to put a stop to Zemu's operation on them.

But when she arrived at the entrance of the laboratory, she already caught herself a nasty surprise. Needles and Dr. Zemu had already viewed Ratchet and Pupuru's memories, viewing everything that they had gone through from past to present. Zemu then saw a catch that both his patients had the same memory of Pupuru's dream. He watched everything unfold right in front of him; from Ratchet's problem with sanity to the zombie hunt at the future Greymoor Cemetery (seasons one through four). From Jin Kazama's joining of the League of Heroes to the infiltration at Count Dracula's castle (seasons five through seven). From Pupuru's fiddle with time to the end of the dream (from season eight to the cancellation of the series).

Dr. Zemu was shocked when he saw how the dream ended; a tear ran down his cheek as he watched the remaining events unfold in front of him. He saw how Ratchet brought Pupuru in with the League of Heroes, and how Billy Ray Stillwell died from his battle with Ratchet, and how Pupuru saved Ratchet from death by the hand of Mr. Grimm. After all events were shown, the recording stopped.

Even Kat did not bear to watch all those tragic events happen right before her eyes. She now remembered what things were like in the dream; she trembled to the ground, crying before all that unfolded. She forgot about making herself hidden, and Needles found out that she was right behind him.

Needles walked up to Dr. Zemu and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Emotions really get the best of people, don't they?" he spoke to him. "Is that why you act so much like an infant?"

"I can't help it," Dr. Zemu replied. "Out of all the patients I've viewed, these two have been through so much torture in so short of a time."

"But it's only been two years. Perhaps I should use that blasted Time Cube of theirs and go back to make things worse in their past! That would be the ultimate sweet revenge for me! Why didn't I think of this before?"

Needles saw that Zemu did not respond to what he just said. Needles was already angry at him, but he wanted to hide it from him. He silently pulled a pistol from his back pocket and barely touched it to Zemu's back.

"Do you think these people have met their end?" Zemu asked him.

"I'm afraid so," Needles replied. "And the same thing goes for you too." With that, Needles quickly shot Zemu in the back with his pistol. Zemu was completely unaware of it, as he stumbled back, unable to break his fall.

Needles caught him temporarily before he could hit the floor. Needles again shot Zemu, but in the chest this time, killing him off completely. He let go of the scientist and let him fully die on the floor. "If ANYONE'S going to do the right thing around here…" Needles said, "…it's going to be ME!"

Kat was not going to let Needles win the war between good and evil. Needles represented all of evil: selfish, murderous, hating, deceptive, and vile. He was practically all of evil itself, now taking the form of a human body. And the League of Heroes needed to put a stop to him now.

Desperately, Kat walked straight in and used her gravitational powers to completely destroy all of what was in front of her. Her rage mixed with her emotions of worry and sadness made her more aggressive than ever. Her glow became brighter and brighter as she angrily blew Needles out of the room. She made sure that she buried him underneath much scientific equipment to keep him on the ground; she wanted to make good her escape with her friends.

Kat unplugged the needles from Ratchet and Pupuru's heads, allowing them to keep their sanity and their memories. Ratchet woke up to see that Kat had done her job well, thanking her for her heroic deed.

"I heard everything that Needles said," Kat reported, looking very distraught. "He plans to steal the Time Cube and use it for his own purposes!"

"I never thought that he would go and do something like that until now!" Ratchet replied. "And, as much as I hate to admit it, I want to do the same thing! I want to use the Time Cube to go back to the past and save my parents from their death! Why didn't I think of this before?"

"But don't you remember how Billy Ray killed your mother? If he sees you, he's liable to do the same thing to you!"

"I'm going to save my mother before Billy kills her! I'll make sure that Emperor Tachyon recognizes me before he destroys the land of my race! I'll bring my parents here to the present, and we'll live happily ever after! I hope I didn't make it sound too corny…"

Kat, with the arrival of Raven, helped all prisoners gain back their sanity. The two shifters used their gravitational powers to rearrange the poor victims' minds back together again, and so they became perfectly sane. Ratchet and Pupuru had to leave, though, and made their way back to the mansion of the League of Heroes.

 **(Note: WHY DO I ALWAYS USE THE SAME PHRASE OVER AND OVER AGAIN?!)**

Once they arrived, Ratchet immediately ran right into Pupuru's room and snatched the Time Cube from the nearest shelf. Pupuru followed him into that room and saw how distraught he was as he held the Time Cube to him like a doll.

"What the heck are you doing?" Pupuru said to him. "I really hope you're not going insane!"

"This is my moment!" Ratchet barked in reply as the Time Cube expanded and created a doorway inside. "I'm going back to save my parents! And NOTHING will stop me!"

Pupuru stopped Ratchet before he could step foot inside the Time Cube's interior. "Wait!" she exclaimed. "Let me go with you!"

"No, Pupuru!" Ratchet replied. "This is MY journey, not yours!" He quickly went inside and shut the door so no one can come inside. He also seized the main key and hid it inside the Time Cube's computer console. "Nothing can stop me now!" he exclaimed as he pulled the correct levers that soon made the time machine disappear.

Pupuru panicked as she watched the Time Cube disappear. She began to worry deeply about Ratchet, fearing that he may die in his own dark past. "Why doesn't someone stop him?" she thought. "I don't want him to go mad again!"

Excitedly, Ratchet hurried all the way to the past, when his home planet Fastoon was beginning to crumble by the power of Emperor Percival Tachyon. Tachyon was using his many robots and weapons to destroy the land the Lombaxes dwelled. Only now, Ratchet was going to stop him in his act here and now. But first, one thing had to be done: save his mother.

 **(Note: Now you will see our first three "movies" tie in with each other.)**

Ratchet hurried to the crushed council room where his mother was trapped. She had absolutely no way out, especially when Billy Ray was ready to make his kill. Ratchet had to act fast and get her mother out of there.

 **(Note: Because Ratchet's mother never had a name, let's GIVE her one.)**

As Ratchet used his trusty Omniwrench to lift heavy heaps of rubble, he heard the screams of Esther coming from the inside. He quickly tossed the debris aside and rushed over to her, right before Billy could land his hoe onto her.

"If you dare land a hand on her…" Ratchet hissed, "…I'll KILL you!"

Billy already recognized Ratchet right when he saw him. "YOU!" he exclaimed. "The Dark Knight told me all about you and your past! That's why he sent me here to give you the dark past! I'll be responsible for killing your mother!"

Enraged, Ratchet struck out at Billy with his wrench, smacking him on the head. Billy's anger increased as he struck back with his hoe. Esther watched as wrench clashed with hoe over and over again. No matter how many times Ratchet was hit, he always stood right back up and attacked back. His anger and hunger for revenge made him almost completely unstoppable.

Eventually, Billy became tired from fighting so hard. But before he could do anything else, Ratchet blurted out the very words that he soon regretted to say:

"There's nothing you can do! You might as well go and kill PUPURU'S parents instead of mine! That's what you should have done!"

Billy smiled evilly and hissed in reply: "You're right! Why didn't the Dark Knight tell me to do THAT? He's such a fool, I'm not taking any orders from him anymore! From now on, I'm going my OWN way! I'll make sure I get my money's worth and win myself a killing spree!"

With that, Billy took off and went to go do what Ratchet said. But little did he know that the Dark Knight bore the true identity of Marcus Kane.

Ratchet quickly pulled Esther up from the burning floor and rushed her out of the council room. "Come on!" he exclaimed excitedly. "It's time that my dark past ends!"

They were out of there in a hurry, just in time to see what Emperor Tachyon was up to. He was nowhere in sight at the moment, but Ratchet knew that he would strike any minute. But for now, he wanted to see his mother face-to-face.

Esther took one good look at him; she did not recognize him at first because of his rage. But a tear in his eye made complete sense to her as she began to know whom she was facing. "Son…" she whimpered as a tear formed in her eye. "It's you…"

"Everything will be fine, mom…" Ratchet replied. "I promise… I'm here with you…"

"Why did you tell that awful man to kill another friend of yours?!"

"It was the way things SHOULD have been! Pupuru became lucky and I ended up suffering throughout my origin! But now I don't need her anymore! I'm free to do what I want with my Time Cube! Just as Pupuru brought me back after Mr. Grimm killed me, I'm doing the same thing with saving you and dad!"

"If she saved you, you should have repaid her by saving HER parents!"

"Can you not change the subject?! I just saved your frickin' butt over there! You wouldn't be alive if I hadn't saved you!"

"How can this be? You're just like your father! You're selfish and demanding!"

Once Kaden had been mentioned, Ratchet's heart leaped. Now was his chance to go and save him as well. "Show me to my father!" he said.

Meanwhile, back at modern-day Los Angeles, Pupuru sat on a chair in front of the window of her room. She never slept that night; she was always worried and troubled by Ratchet's insanity. The thought of it kept her up with no peaceful sleep; she decided to clear her mind by looking out the window and watching the raging thunderstorm outside.

Kat woke up to see Pupuru sitting in front of the window; she did not know what she was thinking about at that time. Pupuru never told anyone what had happened earlier that day; no matter how many times she was asked the same question as to what happened to Ratchet, she never gave an answer. She kept it to herself, hoping that no one else thought that Ratchet had gone mad.

Kat got out of her bed, pulled up a chair, and sat down next to Pupuru to watch the storm with her. "Why do you not tell us of what happened?" she asked her. "Has Ratchet really gone insane this time?"

Pupuru at first stayed silent for a few minutes, not answering Kat's question. But then, she finally found courage enough to reply; she did not want Ratchet to stay at the past his whole life, and Kat would be a great help to bring him back. "He took the Time Cube with him to the past," Pupuru said. "He went to go save his parents before his home planet became a shambles. But he refused to let me go with him. I never thought that he would be gone for so long of a time. It's as if he never wants to return to us."

Kat felt heartbroken as well, finally realizing how far Ratchet truly went with his mind. But before she could say anything, she saw Pupuru break down, tears rapidly running down her cheeks. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him!" she exclaimed. "He saved my life! He saved me from my insanity! Why did he have to do this?!"

Suddenly, Kat saw Pupuru fade away and disappear into nothingness. "Pupuru!" she exclaimed as she attempted to grab hold of her. But nothing helped; Pupuru was gone and removed from the real world. "How did it happen?" Kat thought. "Ratchet must have done something! NO! He killed her parents!"

Indeed Billy had done what Ratchet told him to do: he had gone to Pupuru's home and killed her parents right on the spot. "My mission is truly complete!" he thought after his success. "Now that she is put out of the world, the dream will NEVER come true! The dream was her whole life, and never something to be changed!"

Back at Fastoon, Ratchet finally met up with his father Kaden right before he could jettison the escape pod. Inside the pod was Ratchet, right after he was born, soon to be sent to the safe planet of Veldin.

 **(Note: The planet was not safe for long when Chairmen Drek almost destroyed it. But Ratchet and Clank saved the day anyway, as we all know.)**

Ratchet told his father about his plan and how he wants to save their planet together. But Kaden saw the look in his son's eyes, knowing that he had done his terrible deed.

"You want to save our planet…" Kaden said to him, "…but you also killed your friend before coming here! I almost made that mistake with Esther until you saved her! You confuse me, my son!"

"I'm doing this for your own good, dad!" Ratchet replied. "I'm trying to save our family so that I don't end up lonely for fifteen years."

 **(Note: Ratchet was assumed to be fifteen years old in his first game. He built his first ship out of rubber bands and chewed gum.)**

"I can't accept your excuse! As my son, you should know better than to go your own way! As a Lombax, you should know better than to commit murder!"

"Did somebody just say MURDER?" said an awfully-familiar voice from behind.

Ratchet and the others turned to see Needles standing right in front of them; but this time, he was not alone. He had killed Emperor Tachyon before he could bring the planet crumbling down.

"You became too overconfident in yourself!" Needles said as he threw Tachyon's corpse to the ground. "You wanted to do the avenging like you did to this guy. You wanted everything to go your way, including the death of Pupuru's parents! You're starting to become my type, Ratchet! You yourself are as much as a killer as me! Look at what you've done in the past!"

 **(Note: Ratchet did avenge Tachyon in his games. But you also have to remember how Ratchet gained his split-personality in season one of this series.)**

"I HAD to do it!" Ratchet barked at him. "I had so good of a reason to make those killings!"

"Tell me why, Ratchet. Tell me why a wimpy nobody like you would get away with such things!"

"Because I hate humans! I hate the whole human race itself, and I wish that it was never created at all!"

"I know what you're thinking: you want aliens to inhabit the entire universe! You want your family to be the supreme ruler of the universe! You might try, and maybe even rule the depths of hell itself. Just you try, Ratchet… Just you try…"

"Oh, I will…"

Needles paused for a moment, then spoke again: "I have an idea! Because I almost have the same plan as you, why don't we do it TOGETHER? Join me, Ratchet, and we shall rule the universe together! We shall overthrow our worst enemies, even Chairman Drek and Mr. Grimm, and become the rulers of all realms! I can even give you the power to save your closest friends from death! What do you say?"

Ratchet almost gave in to Needles' offer; he was very eager to take all that he wanted into his own hands. But Kaden interrupted as he stepped forward and sliced a dagger through Needles' wrist. Needles' right hand was cut off, but only for a temporary moment; a new hand began to form where the old one once stood. "Keep trying…" he hissed at Kaden, "…and you'll only see death's door."

Ratchet was right about to say that he accepted Needles' offer, but something happened that made him stop. He heard his mother behind him sobbing; he began to remember everything his parents said to him. He began to stop and think:

"As a son, I am a listener. I must comprehend what my parents say and obey them, even at the age I'm at now. I always knew that someday, I would be a father just like my own. I already know what it's like being a father, ever since I took Pupuru in with me. PUPURU…! WHY DID I KILL YOU!? I can still hear her; she's out there, crying and begging for me to come back and save her! I took her in for a good reason, and I will always carry out that reason for as long as I live! Pupuru, you want your dream to come true in a good way… YOU SHALL HAVE IT! You're my companion… you're my friend… you're like my daughter! I love you, Pupuru! And I will never let you down for as long as I live! I'm coming home!"

Ratchet opened his eyes and slowly reached down into his pocket. He pulled out the miniaturized Time Cube and tossed it to the ground, where it grew and expanded to life-size. As its door slowly opened, a bright light from inside shined directly towards Needles, blinding him temporarily. It created a diversion good enough for Ratchet to quickly throw him inside.

With Needles now as a captive, Ratchet had enough time to throw everything together and bring things back to the way they should be. Before taking off, he had one last thing to do.

"I'm very sorry," he said to his parents. "I should have listened to you and done what I was told. I kept seeing the human race as my enemy. But I had to think about why it was: all the adversaries I've faced since I went to Earth were humans. I fought them for too much of a time, but Needles here is the combination of shadow and soul. He took on a human form himself to physically walk the universe. I'm taking him with me to take Pupuru's place in the time vortex."

"Before you go…" Esther replied, "…we must tell you something. You must reset all the events that had happened earlier. I'd rather that horrid-faced freak take ME instead of Pupuru's parents. I'm willing to sacrifice myself and let your father send you on your journey. Your journey has gone on for years until you became a hero on Earth. We love you." With that, she embraced Ratchet and kissed him on the forehead. This was the only chance she had for showing her love for her son.

Kaden stepped forward and said something as well. "Son…" he said very softly.

"Yes… dad…?" Ratchet replied.

"You are forgiven… We love you… Now GO and change the course of time! The future is in your hands!"

"But can't you both come with me? We can live in the future and serve as the mighty League of Heroes!"

"We cannot do that! If we come with you, all of time will be messed up, and a time paradox will cause total chaos! Our place is here, where your future awaits you." Kaden pointed towards the escape pod where the baby Ratchet was placed and ready to take off to Veldin.

"Mom… dad… I love you…" Ratchet went forward and embraced his two loving parents one last time. He never wanted to say good-bye; he never wanted to leave; he never wanted to be separated.

Hesitatingly, Ratchet went inside the Time Cube, then turned back to take one last good look at his parents. After a few seconds, he closed the door as tears poured down his closed eyes.

Back at Los Angeles, the preacher known as Jebidiah knelt at a wood cross that stood on the stage of his church. On that spot, he began a prayer for everything to be back to normal. He had heard of the disappearance of Pupuru, and he had thought that it was the work of a demon. Right where he knelt, he prayed:

"Dear Lord, I ask in Jesus' name to remove all pain and sorrow from the world. If there is anything wrong, You correct it. If there is anything broken, You fix it. If there is any rocky heart, You soften it. Make us clean in Your name, Jesus, make us Yours. No matter how far away we are, Your love still touches our hearts. You are never too far away from us. Make us Yours, Lord!"

The Time Cube landed at modern-day Los Angeles. Ratchet could not bear at all to open the door to the modern world outside him. He really missed his parents, but he had to set everything straight. He had to reset the moment when his parents died from Tachyon's assault and Billy's kill. Now that he was the modern time, there was no turning back. Pupuru's parents were safe, but Pupuru herself was still stuck in the time vortex.

Ratchet opened the door and walked outside. He had landed the Time Cube at a nearby park, where a great view of the river was shown. Only now, it was raining hard, but there was no time for Ratchet to lose.

Needles staggered outside the Time Cube and tried desperately to reach out and grab Ratchet. But Ratchet heard him from behind, and he turned and smacked him clear in the face. Needles stumbled to the ground blindly and hit his head hard on the ground.

"So…" Ratchet said to him. "Now you know how it feels."

"Honestly…" Needles replied as he stood back up. "One day… just one day… I shall kill you and end your pitiful life forever! I swear it!"

"But you can't do it now. Look at you; you're so pitiful and helpless! You yourself are nothing more than evil itself, and good has triumphed over evil once again! Admit it: you have lost!"

"You may SAY that, but I'll never admit it!"

Ratchet dragged Needles back inside the Time Cube for the final step of the plan. On the other end of the cube was another door: the door which led to the time vortex. Ratchet originally programmed it to be where a passenger jumps out the Time Cube's main room (at his destination) while the pilot still takes control. But none of it turned out quite the way Ratchet planned it.

Ratchet has never opened that door yet; but once he grabbed hold of the switch that controlled it, he knew there was no turning back. "This is it…" he thought. "I'm coming!"

He pulled the lever. The door opened wide, letting in a giant gust of wind. Ratchet had to fight it if he wanted to free Pupuru from there. He dragged Needles with him into the time vortex; their search had just begun.

The vortex was completely white and windy; the wind formed many layers, making it very difficult to see through the white scenery. All that Ratchet could hear was the cry for his name coming from a certain direction.

"Pupuru is near!" Ratchet thought. "I can already hear her!"

He trudged on, struggling to walk through the winds that carried him on. There was absolutely no floor to touch with his feet, which made Needles very nervous with the feeling that Ratchet would drop him down below.

Pupuru was floating in the white air, still calling for help. Finally, she heard the promising call from the brave Lombax:

"I'm coming, Pupuru!"

Pupuru began to see things very clearly as Ratchet finally approached her. She reached out her hand to try and grab him, but the furious wind pushed her back even more. This made things a very difficult challenge both for her and Ratchet.

Ratchet too reached out his hand to grab hers, but still no luck. It seemed like they were going nowhere with this at all.

"I can't reach you!" Pupuru shouted to him over the wind. "I might as well be stuck here!"

"Don't you EVER say that!" Ratchet replied. "Let's give this one more try! Let's give it all we got! I love you, Pupuru! Don't ever forget that!"

"I never will… I love you too…"

Finally, with one last push, the two heroes' hands touched, and they held on very tightly. Neither of them would let go at all; this was their victory.

"I thought we had a deal!" Needles exclaimed, still holding onto Ratchet's other hand. "I could have done ANYTHING for you!"

"Don't lie!" Ratchet replied. "You've been the burden of everyone on this planet!"

"You fool! Marcus created me with his mind! HE is the one to blame!"

"Marcus pledged himself to good! Like I already told you, YOU LOST! GOOD-BYE!"

"Ratchet… NO!" Ratchet let go of Needles' hand and let him fall through the time vortex… into eternity…

Ratchet brought Pupuru back into the main room of the Time Cube and closed the time vortex's door.

"Thank you so much for saving me again, Ratchet!" Pupuru said as she embraced Ratchet. "You're not only a true hero, but you're also a true friend!"

"Pupuru…" Ratchet replied, "…I'm very sorry all of this ever happened. All of this is my fault. I cared only about myself and my pleasures, like I was a few years ago. But now, to this day, I promise that I will never, ever, abandon you. You're family!"

"I already know that my parents died from SOME source. But now, I'm not alone. I still have you and the others as family!"

"Thank you so much, Pupuru! That really means a whole lot to me! Although, I still can't stop but think about how your dream began. Remember how I was hooked on drugs, and it made me a prisoner of my own addictions. I had to fight Sweet Tooth in order to free Nathan Drake, but I myself was imprisoned as well. All I had to do was look up and see those beautiful stars up in the sky. Those stars are free to shine and be the bright lights that they are. I applied that lesson to my life as I became a better person. Now I can think back and remember the very words that I still want to say today: MAY FREEDOM REIGN!"

 **THE END!**

 **I'd like to thank James Arnold Taylor for the character of Ratchet, and J.S. Gilbert for Sweet Tooth. Gilbert makes Sweet Tooth sound tough, but he cusses in the Twisted Metal game for PS3. Still, I make him a better villain in this series: he's not so dark and cruel. Also, thanks to my older brother Forrest for editing my first draft of the cancelled "May Freedom Reign" from 2013. Thanks to T.J. Fixman for Ratchet's true origin in the Ratchet & Clank games. And finally, many thanks to God my Lord and Savior. I put in that prayer because I was praying hard to God as I wrote this story. He is good, isn't He? I prayed to him as I also wrote the cancelled version. Anyway, thank you all very much for reading! God bless you!**


	7. Power of the Goddesses

PlayStation All-Stars

Volume Two, Season Two

Episode Seven

Power of the Goddesses

By Cole Bezotte and Needle Kirby

 **It's good to be back in action after all these months of absence. Sorry all these other stories came in late. There are complicated reasons that I can never reveal. But anyway, enjoy the show!**

 **This story features a fan character introduced by my partner. I hope you find her enjoyable.**

It happened again. Ratchet became surrounded by crazy fans who were eager to get word out of him. But nothing new happened that week… except for when Ratchet went back to the past and attempted to save his parents. He did not want to spill that mission to the public, not after all that he had went through.

Suddenly, a peculiar-looking girl stood right up to him, bearing a nervous expression. Ratchet turned and saw her standing right in front of her. "Well what do YOU want?" he spoke to him. "Come on! Spit it out!"

"My name is Bleu," the girl replied. "I really need to know how your Time Cube works. What is it powered by? What time did you recently go to? Whom did you meet there?"

"Quiet, you! What I went through was personal, and I don't want to talk about it… AT ALL! No questions, please!"

"But I need you to take me back to where I was before coming here. I want to fix things at the battle that I lost. You have to help me!"

"No one must know the mystery of the Time Cube, and that's final! I made it, I keep it! Farewell!"

Ratchet hurried his way to the mansion, where nobody in particular was waiting.

 **(Note: FINALLY! I did not use that same dumb phrase again!)**

Exhausted and tired, he slumped himself on a couch and rested for a while. Until then, Pupuru came in with Neptune in her mortal form. Neptune still had that mark on her arm from Mr. Grimm's bite. But it would still be a matter of time before he returned; he was still out there and at large… and still hungry.

"Looks like you've been through a lot today," Pupuru said as he looked down at Ratchet. "But Needles is gone, right?"

"He may be in that time vortex…" Ratchet replied, "…but our work is NEVER done. The Doomsday Cult is still running, Mr. Grimm is out there, and we still have not confronted William Sparks. There is still so much to do."

"But whom did you see out there?"

"This annoying girl named Bleu who kept ticking me off with all these questions I never want to answer."

"Bleu?" Neptune said. "I know her! She too is a goddess, like me, and is known as Blue Heart. If she is still out there, we need to find her and bring her into our team!"

"Why?" Ratchet replied. "I haven't even seen her in her goddess form. I don't know if she's worthy to join us in the first place! She wants to know everything about the Time Cube."

"Why don't you take her in also as a COMPANION? Like in Doctor Who, the Doctor always travels through time and space with a companion."

"I already have my companion right here. Pupuru is the best! But I really hate to offend other people about it. By the way, where is your sister?"

"She's dragging Clank with her throughout the country fair."

"She better not leave any rust on him!"

Meanwhile, not far away from Midtown Suburbs, Bleu still pondered over her anxiety about the Time Cube. "I really want to be taken back so I can fix all mistakes I've made!" she thought quietly. "My friends are part of Ratchet's team; they've gone in without me. But, if I can't figure it all out as I am, I'll have to do it the OTHER way!"

With that, Bleu quickly transformed into her goddess form. What Bleu cannot do alone, Blue Heart can.

She traveled all the way over to Dr. Zemu's abandoned laboratory, where she would find clues to what Ratchet did with the Time Cube. It was the one place where he gained the idea to go back and save his parents from Billy Ray Stillwell's wrath.

As Bleu entered, she noticed that the whole placed had been cleaned up; all computers and monitors turned off and all mechanical inventions rusted. Nothing was able to work anymore, that is until she found something.

Bleu even tried looking for useful things in Zemu's secret supply closet. It was where he kept his backups on memory chips, gears, tools, and wires. But as Bleu stepped foot inside the closet, she was suddenly startled by the huge, bulky figure of a man. She looked closer to see that the figure was wrapped in black leather strips, as well as the face being covered by a special mask. The mouth was zipped all the way shut, but the eyes still shown. They were closed until Bleu dared to touch the figure at its head.

The eyes suddenly yanked themselves wide open. Bleu was scared and stepped back to see the figure in its full form. The eyes were glowing bright red as the creature stepped forward in his heavy leather boots. He looked down at her with a confused expression, wondering why she was frightened. He calmly introduced himself as he reached out his hand. "Name… Black…" he stuttered.

The creature's name was indeed Black, but it was not the same creature as from Pupuru's dream. The one that we used to know was defeated by Jak, Jebidiah, and Nepgear; he was pushed off the skyscraper of New York and plummeted towards his death. This creature that Bleu saw before her was an artificial being created by Dr. Zemu. Before Zemu fully died, he made his final effort to program Black to do good works.

Bleu nervously reached out and shook Black's hand. "How do you do?" she replied to him.

"Fine…" Black replied. He spoke very slowly in his thick, deep, hissing voice. "You be…friend…"

"Hey, you're not so bad after all. Perhaps you would be a great hero and join the League of Heroes!"

"There's a…team…?"

"Sure! Why don't you come with me and I'll introduce them to you!"

"More…friends… Good enough for me… Any…bad guys…?"

"There always will be a villain to fight. There are some that are still at large, and we need your help to defeat them."

"Sounds…fun… Come with me…to my…truck…"

"You have a vehicle?"

"Sure… I drive and…shoot hot…coals…"

"Perhaps it will be very useful. Come on!"

 **I HOPE YOU DID NOT THINK THAT THIS STORY WAS BORING. BUT THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING NEW! YOU'LL SEE MORE HAPPEN SOON!**

 **Curly: "I didn't know they put money in cans?"**

 **Moe: "They DON'T!"**

 **Curly: "Sure they do, see? Canned coin!" (Points to the can that says "Canned Corn")**


	8. Black and Blue

PlayStation All-Stars

Volume Two, Season Two

Episode Eight

Black and Blue

By Cole Bezotte and Needle Kirby

 **(Note: More Star Fox is promised. Just stick around and be patient.)**

Bleu led Black all the way to the Midtown Suburbs, her heart leaping with excitement and anxiety. Black drove his heavy dump truck through the paths that Bleu directed him towards until they finally arrived at the mansion. No one at all was expecting her to arrive with such a surprise as Black.

Bleu burst open the mansion's door and surprised everyone with the new friend she made. Ratchet was startled the most, almost about to kill Black right on the spot. "Why did you bring HIM in here?!" he exclaimed.

"He's completely harmless," Bleu replied as she changed back to normal form. "He has no weapon with him; only his truck is loaded."

Black reached out to shake hands with Ratchet as he hissed: "Name… Black… You…the leader…?"

"That is correct," Ratchet nervously replied as he shook Black's hand. "I thought that none of us were gonna make it out of this alive."

"I… come to… help… We… fight together…"

"I guess you DO mean it. Then welcome aboard! And as for YOU, Bleu, you better make your way upstairs to the Girls' Brigade studio. But don't go asking any more questions about the Time Cube, understand?"

"I understand," Bleu replied as she went upstairs.

Ratchet thought that things were pretty well wrapped up, except for one thing, which made him burst out laughing for the rest of the day. He saw Clank come downstairs, bearing female makeup all over his face. Nepgear had REALLY caused mischief that day. But Sackboy laughed the most; he could not stop thinking about it, even in his sleep.

Though things were changing for the League of Heroes, there was soon a situation to be dealt with. John Doe and his Doomsday Cult had arrived at the roof of the Blackfield Asylum, where they were to put their next plan into action. They had with them a time bomb given enough power to blow up the entire jail.

Of course it would have been obvious that they would be caught in their act by the spotlights. They had to knock out all security systems in order to appear unseen. Though the Doomsday Cult succeeded in the preparations, Agent Shepherd knew what was going on up there. He attempted to force them down off the roof, but John threatened that he would attack the city as well. Shepherd did not want to let the Doomsday Cult kill many innocent victims, but he needed more options. The whole asylum was about to blow apart; that way, many psychotic people would live among normal people and perhaps kill each other.

Desperately, Shepherd right away called for the League of Heroes to come and help him defeat this menace. With his long-distance radio, he made the call: "Calling League of Heroes! Calling ALL members of the League of Heroes! This is Agent Shepherd speaking! You must come to Blackfield Asylum immediately! The Doomsday Cult is about to blow the whole place up! We need your help! The fate of those innocent patients is in your hands! Please hurry!"

Immediately, the heroes had arrived at the scene to deal with the Doomsday Cult. Black and Bleu also brought along their dump truck to fling hot coals at the villains, which they would possibly never escape from.

"Okay, Black," Ratchet said. "This is your first try at combat, so I'm going to give you the first chance. When I say GO, fling those rocks at those guys when they start coming down. They have already set their bomb, and it will be detonated in three minutes. After hitting those guys, go up there with Bleu and turn off the bomb."

"It… shall… be done…" Black replied as he drove forwards closer to the building.

John and his men struggled to climb down their ropes faster; but once they looked behind themselves, they saw that there was no way out. They at first planned to jump straight down to the ground; it may cost their lives, but they would rather do that than to be burned by the coals of a new hero. But they were too late; Black had already launched his rocks, hurling them straight at the bad guys. They were hit, also making the ropes burn and deteriorate. The men fell to the ground, where their backs were broken, and they had died.

This gave Bleu and Black a chance to throw new cables up at the asylum's rooftop and climb up to turn off the bomb. But once they had reached there, it was already too late. The bomb's countdown had finished, and so it released a violent explosion that ended our new heroes.

As Bleu fell down to the ground, Black reached out and grabbed her, and held her tight as he let himself embrace the full impact of the fall. After they collapsed to the ground, Black turned around and shielded Bleu from the remaining debris that fell upon them.

Black looked over her and began to weep bitterly from his eyes, furious with grief. "Don't die…!" he exclaimed.

"It's too late…" Bleu whimpered with her dying breath. "I…wanted to fix my mistakes… But now…I am forgiven…" With those last words, she died right in Black's arms.

Like a wild beast, Black looked up and let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream of pain and grief. This new friend he had just made is now gone forever.

At Bleu's funeral, every member of the League of Heroes said some things in her honor. Black was the last to say something; and so, when it was his turn, he said a lullaby as he said his last good-bye:

"Good-night… Sleep tight… And don't let the bed bugs bite… If they do… Grab a shoe… And beat them till they're Black and Bleu. We are both hurting inside…"

Bleu, the brave young heroine also known as Blue Heart, was buried next to Billy Ray Stillwell, because they were both forgiven for their mistakes.

 **FEEL LIKE CRYING? I DO, ESPECIALLY AFTER WATCHING "INSIDE OUT" FOR THE FIRST TIME. BUT DON'T SAY GOOD-BYE; I HATE IT! IT MUST HAVE BEEN PAINFUL FOR RATCHET TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO HIS PARENTS. SO IT IS FOR BLACK TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO HIS FIRST FRIEND.**

 **SEE YOU SOON!**


End file.
